SÕRVE SUMMER CAMP CREATING CROSS-GENERATIONAL MEMORIES

Sirje Perendi-Cook attended Sõrve-Estonian Children’s Summer Camp as a child and was a leader for many years. She has given this lovely parental overview of the 2024 camp held at Point Wolstoncroft Sport & Recreation Centre, Gwandalan NSW during the week of 7-14 January 2024.

Every first week of January I always seem to live through my kids! Forever so curious to know what fun stuff they have been up to! Their memories seem to attach to mine and during the coming year we will probably go back to them together. Cross-generational memories.  

I’m Australian/Estonian/Finn who now lives in Finland. This year all my three children returned to Australia to attend the Estonian Children Camp - Sõrve. My kid’s happy place! 💙

I was a little worried as this was my youngest daughter Lilja’s (10 y) first time so long away from home and in a different language environment to her usual. However, from the word go, she was right into it and found her place at camp. With six girls in their tare (hut), they formed fun and tight group friendships. On the last night, at the final lõke (bonfire), Lilja (who never gets any awards in Finland as this is not the done thing in schools) did not get just one award, but three! 
* The Big brother-little sister Award with her big friend Oskar (aged 17 😊) * The Romeo and Juliet Award * The Acrobatics Award. Their hut, tare neli, also won Päeva parim tare (cleanest hut of the day) twice! 🧹🧽

Sõrve camp was also a great immersion into good Aussie English for Lilja. She now sounds like an Aussie again 😁and she is already planning on being a leader when she is 18. I am so grateful to Lilja’s super leaders Ella and Tara for taking such good care of her. 

Pilvi (17y) was in the oldest girls’ hut. She and her friend, Ingrid from Melbourne VIC, have been together at camp since they were both just 8 years old! Amazing experience for her once again. 

My son Markus (13y) was in a hut with 3 other boys who are all good friends from previous camps. The boy’s normal shenanigans of raiding other huts in the middle of the night and staying up till 3am continued.

On the Visitor’s Day my husband and I went to camp for the Cultural Concert and again got to observe the beautiful friendships, tradition, warmth between campers of all ages, good fun and humour that makes Sõrve so special for our community. The final lõke made me teary as I saw how much it all meant for my three children. Markus was invited to help continue the tradition of being one of the elanik to carry the light back to their home city/country with the promise to bring the Sõrve light back next year, just brighter.

"An awesome week ... elagu Sõrve Summer Camp"